GREEN NEWS & VIEWS
Rachel Carson (Part Four): Reinvention, Naturally
BY REBECCA HENSON
Rachel Carson passed away 60 years ago this past year, but we DUHQRW¿QLVKHGOHDUQLQJIURPKHUZRUNDQGKHUH[DPSOH,Q6LOYHU 6SULQJ 0DU\ODQG ZH DUH ZRUNLQJ WR FUHDWH Springsong Muse- um , a place of joy, solace, and connection that brings her wonder DQGZLVGRPWRJHQHUDWLRQVQHZDQGROG$VGHYHORSPHQWRIWKLVSURM - ect is ongoing, we are sharing some of Carson’s writings and philos- RSK\ZLWKWKHUHDGHUVRI3DWKZD\VZLWKWKLVIRXUWKDQG¿QDOLQVWDOO - PHQWIRFXVLQJRQUHJHQHUDWLRQRIPDWHULDOVDQGOLIHRQ(DUWK Spring is a welcome season for many of us, bringing much-missed light and warmth, not to mention a more expansive color palette to D SUHYLRXVO\ GXOOHG ZRUOG 6SULQJ R̆ HUV XQLTXH VPHOOV DQG VRXQGV proof that life has yet again returned, not merely reawakened but re- QHZHG,WIHHOVPLUDFXORXV 5HQHZDOWKRXJKLVQRWDRQFHD\HDUSKHQRPHQRQ,IZHORRNGHHS enough, or widen our lens to the periphery, we see that life and the Earth itself are in a constant state of motion, transforming and rein- venting over millions of years, a subject Rachel Carson wrote about throughout the entirety of her literary career, and in clear-eyed, of- ten profound letters to loved ones in the months and years before her GHDWKLQ Materials of the Sea ³7KH(QGXULQJ6HD´WKH¿QDOFKDSWHURIKHU¿QDOVHDERRN7KH(GJH of the Sea, is quintessential Carson. Once this rocky coast beneath me was a plain of sand; then the sea rose and found a new shore line. And again in some shadowy future the surf will have ground these rocks to sand and will have returned the coast to its earlier state… On all of WKHVHVKRUHVWKHUHDUHHFKRHVRISDVWDQGIXWXUH RIWKHÀRZ of time, obliterating yet containing all that has gone before… $V WKH VKRUH FRQ¿JXUDWLRQ FKDQJHV LQ WKH ÀRZ RI WLPH WKH pattern of life changes, never static, never quite the same from year to year... ,WZDVIURPWKLVFKDSWHUWKDWVRPHRI&DUVRQ¶VFORVHVWIULHQGVUHDG at a small memorial service they held for her at All Souls Unitarian &KXUFKLQ:DVKLQJWRQ'&$V&DUVRQVDZLW(DUWKDQGKHUSDUWVZHUH continuously shapeshifting in entirely minute and monumental ways. &DUVRQ ZURWH DJDLQ DQG DJDLQ DERXW ³PDWHULDO LPPRUWDOLW\´ ¿UVW QDPLQJ WKH FRQFHSW LQ KHU GHEXW PDJD]LQH SLHFH ³8QGHUVHD´ SXE - lished in the $WODQWLF0RQWKO\ LQ 7KH\HDUROGDTXDWLFELROR - gist had recently and suddenly lost her father and was quickly demon- strating her immense value as the family’s primary, ever-resourceful EUHDGZLQQHU 7KH ¿QDO SDUDJUDSK VXPPDUL]HG D SHUVSHFWLYH WKDW would prove fundamental to her life and career, an ecological recy- cling of all things. 7KXVZHVHHWKHSDUWVRIWKHSODQIDOOLQWRSODFH WKHZDWHUUH - ceiving from earth and air the simple materials, storing them up until the gathering energy of the spring sun wakens the sleeping plants to a burst of dynamic activity, hungry swarms of planktonic animals growing and multiplying upon the abundant, plants, and themselves falling prey to the shoals of ¿VK DOO LQ WKH HQG WR EH UHGLVVROYHG LQWR WKHLU FRPSRQHQW VXEVWDQFHVZKHQWKHLQH[RUDEOHODZVRIWKHVHDGHPDQGLW,Q -
dividual elements are lost to view, only to reappear again and DJDLQLQGL̆ HUHQWLQFDUQDWLRQVLQDNLQGRIPDWHULDOLPPRU - WDOLW\.LQGUHGIRUFHVWRWKRVHZKLFKLQVRPHSHULRGLQFRQ - ceivably remote, gave birth to that primeval bit of protoplasm tossing on the ancient seas continue their mighty and incom- prehensible work. Against this cosmic background the life ZĂĐŚĞůĂƌƐŽŶŽŶƚŚĞĐŽĂƐƚŶĞĂƌŚĞƌĐŽƩĂŐĞŝŶ^ŽƵƚŚƉŽƌƚ͕ DĂŝŶĞ͕ ŝŶϭϵϱϱ͘ WŚŽƚŽĐŽƵƌƚĞƐLJŽĨDĂƌƚŚĂ&ƌĞĞŵĂŶǀŝĂW^͘
continued on page 27
PATHWAYS—Spring 25—25
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